Ever since Cellar Door Books got a notice to vacate its space at Canyon Crest Towne Centre in Riverside, rumors have been flying about other businesses losing their lease. Multiple businesses have been named authoritatively on social media. But only one tenant besides Cellar Door has received such a notice. Some of the others have multi-year leases and have no idea why they’re getting hundreds of inquiries from concerned customers. I employ the shoe-leather approach for my Sunday column.
What’s going to take the place of the drive-in theater in Montclair? Two warehouses and six industrial/office buildings. The City Council action slipped by us a few days before Christmas, but I belatedly have the details in my Friday column.
Sunday was the last night for Montclair’s Mission Tiki Drive-In. The theater’s long run, extended by COVID as development plans were delayed, came to an end without fanfare. I write about the drive-in and its history in my Wednesday column.
The Riverside bookstore Cellar Door Books was notified Tuesday that it must leave Canyon Crest Towne Centre by Feb. 28. (That was extended Friday to March 31 after I inquired.) The owner must scramble to find a replacement space and move. Founded in 2012, Cellar Door is touted as the only independent bookstore in the Inland Empire devoted to new books. I write about the store’s travails in a newsy Sunday column.
Wednesday was the first regular council meeting for new San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran. I was there. She did fine. And her daughter led the Pledge of Allegiance. Also, a speaker decried events of “a demonic nature.” Read more in my Friday column.
East L.A. photographer Luis Garza shot thousands of images for La Raza from 1968-1972, capturing protests, marches and street scenes either poignant or amusing. A retrospective of his work is at Riverside Art Museum. I attended a talk by him Sunday, chatted with him afterward and share the results in my Wednesday column.
If you have an hour to kill, and morbid curiosity, here I am speaking to the La Verne Historical Society on a rainy Jan. 9, reading from “100 Years of the Los Angeles County Fair, 25 Years of Stories” and taking semi-audible questions! It’s the first time someone has filmed one of my presentations (and possibly the last). Thanks to LVTV’s Claudia Gonzalez for the filming and editing. If nothing else, it’s a keepsake for me.
I return to the subject of famous Disney comic book writer-artist Carl Barks, who lived in remote Riverside County while producing work read by millions of children. A few rare pieces of his art turn out to be in the hands of Chino Hills reader (and frequent commenter here) Doug Evans, who was gifted them as a teenager. I tell that story in my Sunday column.
The president of the Laemmle chain of theaters says sale of the property has been called off. That’s good news. However, business needs to be stronger to sustain the theater, and he’s giving it a year to turn around. He’ll talk about this at an in-person event at the Claremont 5 after a 1 p.m. screening Saturday of the documentary “Only in Theaters.” I will host the Q&A! And I tell you more about the theater’s status in my Friday column.
The action in a 1972 episode of “The Night Gallery” took place near Hesperia. (Or perhaps Hisperia. The production team used both spellings.) Also: La Verne gives me a warm welcome, more about Don Quixote and a long-stalled Rancho Cucamonga project appears to be underway. Those are all covered in my Wednesday column.